Euisun Chung visits Le Mans to champion Genesis as a high-performance brand

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung visited the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Saturday to witness Genesis's first hypercar challenge — personally championing the brand as it seeks to grow from a global luxury name into a high-performance marque on the world motorsport stage.

Saturday marked Chung's first-ever visit to the race, held at Circuit de la Sarthe near Le Mans, France. Hyundai Motor Group Vice Chairman Jang Jae-hoon and Hyundai Motor President Jose Munoz accompanied him.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is widely regarded as the world's most prestigious endurance race, testing a car's performance and durability, a team's operational ability, and a driver's concentration simultaneously over a full day of racing. For Genesis, the race is more than a competition — it is a symbolic stage on which the brand can demonstrate its engineering capability and high-performance image in a single event.

Genesis had already gained some Le Mans experience last year, entering the LMP2 class on a trial basis as a preparatory step ahead of a full racing debut. This year, the brand made its official entry into the top-tier Hypercar class, fielding the GMR-001 hypercar.

Chung began his visit at the Genesis Magma Racing (GMR) pit garage, where he met individually with drivers, mechanics and engineers to offer encouragement. He brought personal gifts for team members ahead of their first Le Mans start, boosting morale before the race got underway.

Chung also examined the race car's engine and key components inside the garage. He spent considerable time inspecting the GMR-001 hypercar alongside Luc Donckerwolke, Hyundai Motor Group's Chief Design Officer and Chief Creative Officer, and Jacky Ickx, the legendary Le Mans driver, discussing the vehicle and race operations at length. Those present said Chung showed a deep personal interest in motorsport.

Industry observers say the visit signals that Genesis's Le Mans challenge was driven by a strategic decision at the group's highest level. Donckerwolke said at last year's "Genesis Motorsport Premier" event that he had proposed bringing Genesis into motorsport to top management and received a response within just three days. "The answer was: let's do it," he said.

Chung had signaled his ambitions for high-performance vehicles as far back as 2018, when he said at CES, the world's largest consumer electronics and technology trade show: "We don't just need horses to pull carriages — we also need racehorses that can fight hard in battle and run fast."

Genesis's Le Mans challenge reflects a judgment that a premium brand cannot grow by relying on steady sales alone — it must prove its character on the most demanding competitive stages available.

Genesis reached the Le Mans starting grid roughly 500 days after deciding to enter motorsport. Endurance racing demands far more than vehicle development: teams must simultaneously build out transportation, maintenance facilities, pit operations, staffing and global logistics infrastructure, all of which must be relocated and reassembled at a new circuit for each race. Observers credit Hyundai Motor Group's broad backing as the key factor that allowed a new team to reach this stage so quickly.

Munoz also highlighted the group's integrated capabilities. Speaking at a Genesis press conference at Circuit de la Sarthe on Friday, he said: "Our group is not a typical automaker. We have more than 50 affiliates with capabilities spanning steel, retail, robotics, finance, defense and many other sectors." He added: "Most importantly, all of those capabilities can move in a single direction."

In the afternoon, Chung visited the Genesis booth in the Manufacturers' Village, touring the display vehicles and exhibits with Vice Chairman Jang, Donckerwolke and other executives. The group also examined a boxy buggy concept car equipped with Hyundai Mobis's e-Corner System, which allows each wheel to move independently and enables the vehicle to rotate 360 degrees on the spot. The drivable concept drew considerable attention from spectators as it moved between key zones around the circuit.

Chung also took part in the VIP circuit parade held for distinguished guests following the grid walk, riding in a Porsche-provided vehicle for a lap of the circuit before joining the opening ceremony. Before the race start, he exchanged greetings with key motorsport figures including Pierre Fillon, president of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, and Richard Mille, chairman of the FIA Endurance Commission. He then watched the race from the pit lounge.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is a central proving ground for the brand ecosystem Genesis is building. The brand is developing a three-tier structure anchored in its core philosophy, leading to "Magma" as its high-performance sub-brand and "Genesis Magma Racing" as the motorsport arm that validates it. Motorsport serves as the arena where both engineering capability and brand identity are tested simultaneously.

Genesis's Le Mans challenge cannot be judged on results alone. The Hypercar class features seasoned endurance competitors — Toyota, Ferrari, Porsche, BMW and Cadillac among them. As a new entrant, Genesis still faces the task of proving its car's overall readiness, its team's race management ability, and its long-distance durability all at once.

Genesis plans to go beyond building its profile as a luxury brand, using high-performance vehicles and motorsport to strengthen both the emotional appeal and the technological credibility of the marque at the same time.

Lee Si-hyuk, executive vice president and head of the Genesis business division, said motorsport plays a central role within the Genesis-Magma-GMR structure. "It is a process of testing, refining and strengthening the values Genesis stands for — not only through engineering, but also at the level of brand identity," he said.